Travel pics: Vicksburg, Mississippi

This is the double bridge that separates Mississippi and Louisiana. I'm on the Vicksburg side visiting a scenic park commemorating the Battle of Vicksburg.

The Battle of Vicksburg was in 1863 and was officially "Grant’s Operations against Vicksburg." The battle was waged from May 18 until July 4 with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant against Confederate States Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton. The forces engaged in the battle were the Army of the Tennessee (Blue) and the Army of Vicksburg (Gray).

An estimated 19,233 people lost their lives with 10,142 from the U.S. and 9,091 from the Confederacy.

Grant’s armies converged on Vicksburg, entrapping a Confederate army under Pemberton. Finally, on July 4, Vicksburg surrendered after a prolonged siege. This was considered one of the most brilliant military campaigns of the War Between the States.

With the loss of Pemberton’s army and Vicksburg, a vital stronghold on the Mississippi, the Confederacy was effectively split in half.

According to all I've seen, the South could have been conquered more quickly if they'd just opened up casinos. Legalized gambling seems to have done a pretty fair job of decimating the states I've been visiting. Crime of every type is up. Employment is down. States that once produced goods and services now produce "entertainment" along with gamblers, blackjack dealers, and lots of people with addictions of one kind or another. Too often those who can ill afford to gamble are the ones, paycheck in their pocket, at the tables and slots.

Sling Words climbing off her soap box now.

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